Can gay men donate blood in us

Blood donation is now more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community. Many are now able to donate blood through a new inclusive screening process that expands blood donor eligibility and eliminates questions based on sexual orientation through updated FDA guidelines issued in May With the updated guidelines, most gay and bisexual men who are in a monogamous relationship with a man will no longer have to refrain from sex in order to donate blood.

Thanks to new federal guidelines finalized in May, gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can now donate at many blood centers around the country without abstaining from sex. They couldn’t donate their own blood. Both men are gay, and gay men in America have been banned from blood donations since the mids. The FDA approved a new blood donation risk assessment that is the same for every donor regardless of how they identify, making donation more inclusive for LGBTQ donors.

It's finally happening. In , the FDA announced it would no longer be issuing blanket bans due to sexual orientation and instead screen potential donors on their risk of contracting and transmitting HIV, with the policy going into effect in August.

Can gay men donate blood reddit

So gay and bisexual men in long-term, monogamous relationships will no longer need to abstain from sex for three months to donate whole blood. This year, the FDA announced it would no longer be issuing blanket bans due to sexual orientation and instead screen potential donors on their risk of contracting and transmitting HIV, with the policy going into effect in August.

Routine blood donation testing for HIV began in , but initial tests could not detect HIV for up to three months after infection. The new screening process focuses on individual risk factors. Tuesday, June 18, However, the blanket deferral still applied regardless of individual risk — such as if the men had only one partner. Thrilled by this change. Both countries moved, in and respectively, to allow donations from men who have had sex with other men in the past three months.

US FDA relaxes blood donation rules for gay and bisexual men

Blood donation organizations say although it's a bit too soon to tell, early data seems to indicate it did make a difference. We can all do our part," she added. Jul 6, PM. The new screening process is based on assessing individual risk factors rather than barring people based on sexual orientation or identity. While there are people like Dominguez and Burdett who donated blood after becoming eligible under the new donor assessment, they acknowledged some gay and bisexual men may still be angry that they were prevented from donating blood previously, even if they were practicing safe sex at the time.

Los Feliz residents want shelter closed after man was murdered outside. In , the agency shortened that abstinence period to three months as the Covid pandemic drained the nation's blood supply. Lifeblood will now need to update systems, seek government approvals, train staff and inform the public before this change can be rolled out. The Therapeutic Goods Administration TGA has approved a gender-neutral risk assessment for blood and platelet donations.

Rates of new HIV infection have fallen substantially since the s. While blood donations have increased since then, it can take weeks for levels to rebound, the Red Cross said. This is absolutely the first step to take, and science is going to keep working with us and it's only going to go up from here. So, did the rule change bring in more donors? Report a correction or typo. And so, I grew up giving blood every eight to 10 weeks, whenever I remembered that it was time, I gave blood until I came out as a gay man in the mids.

In , new HIV cases were reported nationwide 2. From July 14, the rules for plasma donation will change, allowing plasma donation regardless of sexual activity.